On this day February 6, 1992

The Saami people of the Nordic countries have an official day celebrating their existence.

The Sami National Day falls on February 6 as this date was when the first Sámi congress was held in 1917 in Trondheim, Norway.

This congress was the first time that Norwegian and Swedish Sámi came together across their national borders to work together to find solutions for common problems.

In 1992, at the 15th Sámi Conference in Helsinki, a resolution was passed that Sámi National Day should be celebrated on February 6th to commemorate the 1st Sámi congress in 1917. Sami National Day is for all Sámi, regardless of where they live and on that day the Sámi flag should be flown and the Song of the Sami People is sung in the local Sámi language. The first time Sami National Day was celebrated was in 1993, when the International Year of Indigenous People was proclaimed open in Jokkmokk, Sweden by the United Nations.

Since then, celebrating the day has become increasingly popular. In Norway it is compulsory for municipal administrative buildings to fly the Sami flag on February 6th. Particularly notable is the celebration in Norway’s capital Oslo, where the bells in the highest tower of Oslo City Hall play the Sámi soga lávlla as the flags go up.